Manitoba morning

It's cold here this morning, but honestly minus nineteen never looked so good to me.

We had a great New Year's eve - we attended a good-sized house party in a kid friendly house where the Chou stayed up until ALMOST NINE and then promptly slept 'til almost 2 in the morning, and awakened only because we had to get going. The rest of the too-short night sped past, and suddenly it was a beautiful, sunny, crisp, cold New Year's day.

These are the kind of winter days I miss. Pure, cloudless blue skies, crunchy snow and a nip in the air; these are the things that mean winter to me, and silly me is grinning from ear to ear in the chilly sunshine.

The babe went down for her nap, and Mr. Wumpus and I snuggled down under the covers to whisper and dream about the coming year. The watery sunshine spilling through the window made everything seem possible and nothing too far from our reach. While we've always said September feels more like a new year to us, somehow today feels like a fresh start, a new beginning, a clean slate.

Or maybe I'm just a bit of an optimist after 4 hours sleep with a bellyful of crab dip, lobster bisque and champagne.

Happy New Year, whatever the case.